When the United States Dressage Team won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and posted the best American finish for their sport since 1948, N2 Saddlery was proud to be a part of that exciting new chapter in U.S. dressage history. A partnership with the United States Equestrian Federation was a natural next step, and N2 Saddlery has now been named the “Official Dressage Saddle” of the United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Dressage Team.
With two out of three riders on the silver medal squad riding in N2 saddles — Adrienne Lyle on Salvino and Sabine Schut-Kery on Sanceo — N2 Saddlery founder and owner Sue Newell saw the historic moment as the impetus for making the “right partnership at the right time.”
Top team competitors riding in N2 saddles has been a consistent theme for N2 Saddlery. Two out of the three dressage riders on the 2019 Pan American Games podium in Peru also rode in N2 saddles.
“The U.S. Equestrian Federation is the governing body of our sport,” Newell said. “They care about what happens with the sport and the welfare of its animals. They are the ones making everything happen.”
This partnership marks an apex in the longstanding commitment N2 Saddlery has always shown in supporting many of America’s top dressage competitions, including returning as a 2022 sponsor of the Global Dressage Festival, Gold Coast Dressage Association and Wellington Classic Dressage.
This month, as an official sponsor of the USEF Festival of Champions, N2 Saddlery will be on site throughout the event and is excited to present the “N2 Saddlery Award,” which is new this year at the Markel/USEF Young Horse and Developing Horse Championships at the Festival of Champions.
While N2 is already the saddle of choice for so many top riders Newell assures, “Our saddles aren’t just a good fit for Olympians, they are made to enhance the performance and comfort for everyone riding dressage.”
Newell, a master saddle fitter through the Society of Master Saddlers in the United Kingdom, said each N2 saddle epitomizes two tenets: comfortable fit and quality construction. N2 saddles are made using only the finest European-sourced materials. Newell is also an FEI level dressage rider herself, so in designing the N2 saddle line, she knew that her saddles needed to put the rider in a position to effectively use their aids, while allowing the horse the freedom and comfort to move freely through the topline and shoulder. From this, the N2 Saddlery company was born, meeting both the needs of the horse and the needs of the rider.
“Riders rave about the difference our saddle fit makes in their horses’ way of going and their own position and comfort,” she said. “For a horse, fit makes all the difference. When the balance of a saddle is incorrect, it can be uncomfortable and, in some cases, painful for the horse. An unbalanced saddle can also completely alter how a rider feels in it.”
Together with the U.S. Equestrian Federation, N2 Saddlery looks forward to more American horses and riders heading down centerline in perfectly fitted saddles that helps bring out the best in the horse and rider’s performance. Learn more at www.n2saddlery.com.
